Scotland

The UK stopped following EU rules at 23:00 CET as replacement arrangements for travel, trade, immigration and security co-operation came into force.

Boris Johnson said the UK had "freedom in our hands" and the ability to do things "differently and better" now the long Brexit process was over.

But opponents of leaving the EU maintain the country will be worse off.

Bulgaria's Embassy in London has helped a group of Bulgarian citizens who were not allowed to board a flight from Edinburgh to Sofia on December 27 at 3.35pm, the Foreign Ministry press service said. The embassy's consular office has contacted the airline and clarified the misunderstanding.

Ljubljana – Barbara Uranjek, director of the British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, has welcomed an agreement on future relations between the UK and EU. She urged companies to prepare in time for coming Brexit-related changes. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry sees the deal as a pleasant surprise and analyst Peter Verovšek considers it a win for the EU.

Political leaders in Europe on Dec. 24 hailed the belated sealing of a U.K.-EU post-Brexit deal that aims to lay the groundwork for long-term future cooperation.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson lauded what he termed "a good deal for the whole of Europe," which offers "a new stability and a new certainty" to relations.

The Football Association of Serbia has extended the contract with the U21 coach Ilija Stolica for the next qualification cycle

Undeterred by the pandemic, Athens-listed Mytilineos continues to expand across the globe, announcing on Thursday two new projects, in Chile and the UK.

The Turkish National Football Team's opponents in the European Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup were revealed on Dec. 7. 

Turkey will play against the Netherlands, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia and Gibraltar in the European Qualifiers Group G.

The draw was held in Zurich, Switzerland via videoconference amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Shipments of the coronavirus vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech were delivered on Dec. 6 in the U.K. in super-cold containers, two days before it goes public in an immunization program that is being closely watched around the world.

Scotland became the first country in the world to provide free menstrual products as part of a global movement against period poverty on Wednesday.

Scotland on Nov. 24 made sanitary products free to all women, becoming the first nation in the world to take such a step against "period poverty."

The measure makes tampons and sanitary pads available at designated public places such as community centres, youth clubs and pharmacies, at an estimated annual cost to taxpayers of 24 million pounds ($32 million U.S.).